Packing plant by-products, such as lungs, kidneys, hearts and other parts generally not consumed by humans, are often sold and used to make pet food. These by-products are initially at the body temperature of the butchered animal when removed therefrom, and are therefore highly susceptible to spoilage. Due to such potential for spoilage, the by-products have a very short life. The warm by-products must be quickly transported from the packing plant which slaughters the animal to the remote processing plant for conversion into pet food. Without such hurried pick-up and delivery, the by-products become spoiled and must be discarded.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,578,957 and 4,577,466 both disclose a by-products chiller for chilling fresh animal by-products and thereby reducing potential spoilage of the by-products prior to further processing. In both of these patents, the chiller basically comprises a rotatable cylindrical tank having an inlet end for introducing fresh animal by-products and an outlet end for removing chilled by-products. A liquid coolant is introduced into the tank and drains from the tank through a plurality of apertures in the side wall thereof. The liquid coolant is re-cooled and recirculated through the tank for cooling additional by-products.
One of the primary problems with the chillers disclosed in the '957 and '466 patents is that the plurality of apertures in the tank through which the liquid coolant drains become plugged by hair, fat, skin and the like which are extraneous associated materials commonly found by the by-products. Such plugging of the apertures prevents effective circulation of the liquid coolant, and thereby necessitates timely and costly cleaning of the apertures in the tank.
The chillers of the '957 and '466 patents also have elongated baffle bars permanently fixed to the interior side wall of the tank. These baffle bars facilitate the chilling of the by-products by agitating the by-products as the tank rotates. However, different types of byproducts are better agitated by different sized and shaped baffle bars. For example, beef by-products are generally larger and heavier than pork by-products, and therefore larger baffle bars are required to agitate the beef byproducts.
It is also desirable to chill fresh animal hides in the chiller so that conventional chemicals and salts are not necessary for the preservation of the hide. However, a baffle bar with a broad or rounded edge is required to agitate the hide, which may be damaged by the relatively sharp edge L-shaped bars shown in the '957 and '466 patents.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is the provision of an improved by-products chiller for lowering the temperature of fresh animal by-products and hides.
A further objective of the present invention is the provision of a by-products chiller, and method of using the same, which will run continuously without the need for frequent cleaning.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a by-products chiller and method for using the same which accommodates various types of animal by-products and hides.